The ubiquity of mobile payments in Thailand

[JTXR]

Heaven forbid the person (or people) ahead of you in a queue at 7-11 are paying for their 50-baht purchases with their phone. 

Dicking around with pin numbers, and clerks and customers scanning QR codes, each transaction will take three or four times as long as the cash transactions taking place to your left and your right.

 

[sigh]

 

 

[Liverpool Lou]

28 minutes ago, JTXR said:

Heaven forbid the person (or people) ahead of you in a queue at 7-11 are paying for their 50-baht purchases with their phone. 

Dicking around with pin numbers, and clerks and customers scanning QR codes, each transaction will take three or four times as long as the cash transactions taking place to your left and your right.

 

[sigh]

The thing is most people who are going to use TrueMoney, for example, already have the phone out with the app open, the cashier just fires the reader at it and the payment is done.  Takes seconds, "no dicking about with PINs" and it is only the cashier who scans the QR, and then only once.   

It is faster than fannying about with finding the wallet, deciding which note to tender, then wait for change but it does give whining AN posters something to exaggerate about, even though it is usually the same boring thing.

[Liverpool Lou]

18 minutes ago, Sticky Rice Balls said:

it what it is and  there have been times when i simply put the item back and walked out in a sign of protest.....(longer sigh)

A pointless exercise in cutting off your nose to spite your face if you're that near to paying - no one gives a toss about your self-entitled sighs.

[OneMoreFarang]

1 hour ago, Liverpool Lou said:

The thing is most people who are going to use TrueMoney, for example, already have the phone out with the app open, the cashier just fires the reader at it and the payment is done.  Takes seconds, "no dicking about with PINs" and it is only the cashier who scans the QR, and then only once.   

It is faster than fannying about with finding the wallet, deciding which note to tender, then wait for change but it does give whining AN posters something to exaggerate about, even though it is usually the same boring thing.

 

I agree. If done correctly, then it takes seconds.

I guess the problem is at least in some cases, that people have not enough money in their accounts.

I remember once at a cinema counter. After the couple needed their time to select the movie and where they wanted to sit, then they tried to pay with one of their credit cards. Not enough credit (for two movie tickets) on this card, not enough on that card...

That takes time.

[connda]

2 hours ago, JTXR said:

Heaven forbid the person (or people) ahead of you in a queue at 7-11 are paying for their 50-baht purchases with their phone. 

Dicking around with pin numbers, and clerks and customers scanning QR codes, each transaction will take three or four times as long as the cash transactions taking place to your left and your right.

 

[sigh]

 

 

Yep.  I can conduct an transaction with cash in 15 seconds.  30 seconds if the cashier has to break a 1000 THB.  Pet peeve here too.

[Liverpool Lou]

1 hour ago, OneMoreFarang said:

2 hours ago, Liverpool Lou said:

The thing is most people who are going to use TrueMoney, for example, already have the phone out with the app open, the cashier just fires the reader at it and the payment is done.  Takes seconds, "no dicking about with PINs" and it is only the cashier who scans the QR, and then only once.   

It is faster than fannying about with finding the wallet, deciding which note to tender, then wait for change but it does give whining AN posters something to exaggerate about, even though it is usually the same boring thing.

Expand  

 

I agree. If done correctly, then it takes seconds.

I guess the problem is at least in some cases, that people have not enough money in their accounts.

That would not be a factor in the cash v digital argument anymore than the "didn't have enough cash in his pocket" situation that delays the payment process would be.   The TrueMoney app displays the available balance as soon as the app opens, it is not something that is revealed halfway through, and therefore delays, the payment process.

[OneMoreFarang]

1 minute ago, Liverpool Lou said:

The TrueMoney app displays the available balance as soon as the app opens

If I am in a row at a cashier, and I know I have to pay with "my phone", then I will have my phone in my hand and the app opened.

From time to time, I see people who buy something and then the cashier tells them it's 50B, and only then do they take their phone out and open an app, like: I didn't expect that I would have to pay now...

Obviously not everybody does that, but enough people to make it annoying for the others who are waiting. 

[Liverpool Lou]

11 minutes ago, connda said:

I can conduct an transaction with cash in 15 seconds.    30 seconds if the cashier has to break a 1000 THB.  Pet peeve here too.

"I can conduct an transaction with cash in 15 seconds."

As can I, and anyone else, with the TrueMoney app open.  The screen is read and the transaction is done...five seconds, max.

[Liverpool Lou]

Just now, OneMoreFarang said:

From time to time, I see people who buy something and then the cashier tells them it's 50B, and only then do they take their phone out and open an app, like: I didn't expect that I would have to pay now...

From time to time, I see people who buy something and then the cashier tells them it's 50B, and only then do they take their wallet/purse/fumble in their pockets to find the cash, like: I didn't expect that I would have to pay now...

[Lorry]

6 hours ago, JTXR said:

Heaven forbid the person (or people) ahead of you in a queue at 7-11 are paying for their 50-baht purchases with their phone. 

Dicking around with pin numbers, and clerks and customers scanning QR codes, each transaction will take three or four times as long as the cash transactions taking place to your left and your right.

 

[sigh]

 

 

Don't you know how incredibly efficient, convenient and fast mobile payments are? Just ask Liverpool Lou and the tax office

[Nemises]

13 hours ago, JTXR said:

each transaction will take three or four times as long as the cash

You’re retired. You live in a country with oppressive heat. You have nothing to do all day and you have all day to do it in. Yet you whinge if needing to spend an extra 20 seconds in an air conditioned shop. Amazing. 

[OJAS]

15 hours ago, JTXR said:

Dicking around with pin numbers, and clerks and customers scanning QR codes, each transaction will take three or four times as long as the cash transactions taking place to your left and your right.

 

And before you even get to the dicking around with PIN numbers, etc, stage, there is, of course, the "little" matter of getting the bloody app to fire up on your mobile in the first place - which tended to be a slow and time-consuming process for me during my brief dabble with this particular "whizzo" method of making payments before I eventually ditched Bangkok Bank's mobile app out of sheer frustration and reverted to the, for me, tried and tested method of making payments through their online banking service or good old-fashioned cash. I personally dread the day when the Kim Jong Un's at the top of the banking sector finally succeed in their autocratic aim of ramming scanned QR codes as the sole method of making payments down all our throats whether we like them or not - and live in hope that I will have passed on long before that particular day is upon us! 🤬

[khunjeff]

I guess it's now time for the usual 50 or so "cash is king" posts that appear like clockwork each time this issue comes up...

 

And I must say, it continues to astonish me that the mythical "five minutes to pay by scanning" slowpokes only stand in queues ahead of people who detest mobile payments, and are otherwise never seen in nature. 🤔

[Peterphuket]

23 hours ago, Liverpool Lou said:

The thing is most people who are going to use TrueMoney, for example, already have the phone out with the app open, the cashier just fires the reader at it and the payment is done.  Takes seconds, "no dicking about with PINs" and it is only the cashier who scans the QR, and then only once.   

It is faster than fannying about with finding the wallet, deciding which note to tender, then wait for change but it does give whining AN posters something to exaggerate about, even though it is usually the same boring thing.

Most people you are talking, have the phone out with the app open.

Now you make me laugh very hard, have never seen a Thai preparing with a payment, when he or said are in line at the checkout. They can't even calculate by heart when they have to make a payment, and top up if necessary.

[ChrisKC]

On 5/26/2024 at 2:15 PM, JTXR said:

Heaven forbid the person (or people) ahead of you in a queue at 7-11 are paying for their 50-baht purchases with their phone. 

Dicking around with pin numbers, and clerks and customers scanning QR codes, each transaction will take three or four times as long as the cash transactions taking place to your left and your right.

 

[sigh]

 

 

Cash transaction 5 seconds, three or four times that is a maximum of 20 seconds - what's the problem? 

 

You will often spend 30 times that (5 seconds) at some traffic lights just to wait your turn.

[Sandboxer]

Even more fun at the counter at Mcd/BK/KFC when the fat ugly mom and her 3 fat diabetes-bound kids take 3 minutes to scour the menu before even ordering instead of standing back until ready.

 

Otherwise I don't think QR payment is any slower or faster than cash if one is ready to scan.

 

[connda]

23 hours ago, connda said:

Yep.  I can conduct an transaction with cash in 15 seconds.  30 seconds if the cashier has to break a 1000 THB.  Pet peeve here too.

Just had it happen today at 7-11.  Guy with in front of me ends up fiddling with his phone for a minute.  The waiting cashier opens the second register and rings me out (paid with cash) and then goes back to Mr. "Convenient" Mobile Banking.  30 second transaction for me; dude was still playing with his phone as I left. 

[Lorry]

On 5/26/2024 at 5:25 PM, Liverpool Lou said:

"I can conduct an transaction with cash in 15 seconds."

As can I, and anyone else, with the TrueMoney app open.  The screen is read and the transaction is done...five seconds, max.

Contrary to populat belief, this is really possible, I witnessed it today in our 7/11 (ok, it was maybe 45 seconds, but it was really quick, almost as quick as paying with cash).

 

How was this possible?

What was the secret trick?

 

They were two people! One buyer, and her boyfriend who managed the mobile payment.  He could prepare the phone when she was putting stuff on the counter,  he could hold the phone - in the right angle - for the cashier to scan when she grabbed the bags, he stored away the phone unhindered by the stuff they bought. 

 

In a cashless society,  one needs a partner. 

 

 

[SingAPorn]

Totally absurd as most of the people paying with phones who are experienced in Thailand, usually have the app and the camera scan already open and it takes few seconds to pay.

 

In fact it's those with cash who fumble in the wallet for the 1 bhat coin that's missing to sum up, that delay or those with cards who forget their pin code or the card reader that does not work are the ones who make more delay.

 

Just plain jealousy in seeing people looking good, happy and having money to pay via a phone.

 

Many foreigners in Thailand need to remember that they are not in their homeland. They need to learn a fundamental aspect of Thai culture that is...patience. One is fed up of those rude foreigner couples at the supermarket cash queue, getting impatient and being rude with the people in front. No wonder some get punched on their noses 😂

[Lorry]

55 minutes ago, SingAPorn said:

most of the people paying with phones who are experienced in Thailand, usually have the app and the camera scan already open and it takes few seconds to pay.

All the others,  who first must look where is the phone,  then fiddle in their pocketbook to find the code to unlock the phone,  then try all birthdays of the extended family to find the PIN of the paying app etc etc etc... ad infintum....

All these others are in my 7/11, obviously

[Moonlover]

On 5/26/2024 at 2:15 PM, JTXR said:

Heaven forbid the person (or people) ahead of you in a queue at 7-11 are paying for their 50-baht purchases with their phone. 

Dicking around with pin numbers, and clerks and customers scanning QR codes, each transaction will take three or four times as long as the cash transactions taking place to your left and your right.

 

[sigh]

 

 

So you get all steamed up and angry waiting in this shopping queue. You can't wait to get out of there to rush home, (or wherever) so you can waste your time tapping out this grumpy post!

 

How sad. How very sad.

[Lorry]

4 hours ago, SingAPorn said:

as most of the people paying with phones who are experienced in Thailand, usually have the app and the camera scan already open and it takes few seconds to pay.

You have obviously never paid anything at a shop with a mobile app.

In case you ever want to try, let me tell you: most of these apps will, for security reasons,  close after a relatively short time. As you don't know how quickly or slowly the guys before you will pay, you cannot possibly "have the app and camera scan already open".

 

Nice try, but you gave yourself away. 

[Seppius]

I only use my card at Lotus or BigC main stores, with KBank debit its tap and go on their POS

[Captain Monday]

Wonderful. Can’t wait until cash is permanently banned in Thailand. 

[JTXR]

On 5/27/2024 at 7:35 PM, SingAPorn said:

Totally absurd as most of the people paying with phones who are experienced in Thailand, usually have the app and the camera scan already open and it takes few seconds to pay.

I'm not interested in characterizing people.  The fact remains that at my local 7-11 the queues move consistently and demonstrably faster when people pay with cash.  Around 95% of the customers are Thai. 

[SingAPorn]

5 hours ago, JTXR said:

I'm not interested in characterizing people.  The fact remains that at my local 7-11 the queues move consistently and demonstrably faster when people pay with cash.  Around 95% of the customers are Thai. 

well you are infact chracterizing a situation in your description of your local 7-11, by considering it to represent the entire dynamics of the topic involved.

[Sophon]

On 5/28/2024 at 12:27 AM, Lorry said:

You have obviously never paid anything at a shop with a mobile app.

In case you ever want to try, let me tell you: most of these apps will, for security reasons,  close after a relatively short time. As you don't know how quickly or slowly the guys before you will pay, you cannot possibly "have the app and camera scan already open".

 

Nice try, but you gave yourself away. 

 

Of course you can have the app ready. If customers in front of you take longer than expected, and there is a risk that the app times out, you can just click on another function in the app (e.g. check you account balance)  while waiting.

[Lorry]

16 minutes ago, Sophon said:

 

Of course you can have the app ready. If customers in front of you take longer than expected, and there is a risk that the app times out, you can just click on another function in the app (e.g. check you account balance)  while waiting.

Sure, waiting until the customers behind you remind you that's it's your turn,  which you missed because of all this clicking on your app :)

[OJAS]

On 5/28/2024 at 5:02 AM, Captain Monday said:

Wonderful. Can’t wait until cash is permanently banned in Thailand. 

 

Yep, bring back salt blocks! 🤑

 

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